‘For everything there is a season’ (Eccl. 3:1) says the Bible. Discerning the seasons is something that is possible with the help of the Holy Spirit only. Paul the Apostle warns us about the risk of mistaking seasons. ‘So if you think you are standing, watch out that you do not fall’ (1 Cor 10:12). The risk of falling is at its peak when our self confidence is also at its peak. Current events should prompt us to take necessary precautions to avoid this looming danger. If anyone thinks that he can stand by his own against the increasing attacks of the threefold enemies – the world, the flesh, and the evil – his folly deserves our sympathies.
In the second book of Maccabees we read about Nicanor the cruel commander who, under orders from Ptolemy marching towards Judea with an army of more than twenty thousand Gentiles, to wipe out the whole race of Judea (2 Mac 8:9). Nicanor had great plans in his mind. He would sell the captured Jews to slave traders and the price was one Talent per ninety slaves! Nicanor was so confident of his victory that even before actual commencement of battle he invited the merchants from the towns on the seacoast to participate in the ensuing auction of Jewish slaves! The response to his invitation was tremendous. ‘The thrice-accursed Nicanor could bring a thousand merchants to buy the Jews’ (2 Mac 8:34).
Naturally the Jews were afraid, because with all their efforts they could muster an army of around six thousand only whereas their enemies were more than threefold in number. They were all Gentiles bringing to our mind the analogy of the threefold enemies we already mentioned. Judas Maccabeus was the leader of the Jews at that time. He was an efficient commander. But more than that, he was a true warrior of faith. He knew that it was the Lord’s hand that brought them victory, not their prowess. So he told his people to get ready for the battle with the limited resources they had. “For they trust to arms and acts of daring”, he said, “but we trust in the Almighty God, who is able with a single nod to strike down those who are coming against us, and even, if necessary, the whole world” (2 Mac 8:18).
And his words truly energized the ranks. Before proceeding to the battlefield Judas Maccabeus did two things that should not miss our attention. First ‘he appointed Eleazar to read aloud from the Holy Book and then gave the watchword ‘The Help of God’ (2 Mac 8:23). Now take a pause and reflect whether we have the habit of reading aloud the Word of God in times of our spiritual battle. Our fall starts the moment when we ignore the words spoken by the Lord and miss the watchword of His help.
Do you think that our God will forsake a people who put all their trust in him? No. On the first day itself the Jews advanced, attacking enemy positions. They looted the money of those merchants who came prepared to buy them as slaves. The battle would have ended the next day. But Judas Maccabeus was a man of faith and he instructed his people not to fight the next day as it was Sabbath. They resumed the fight after Sabbath and decisively defeated the enemy. Keeping one day holy as Sabbath is something that will bring victory to us everyday. Unfortunately we forget this too in our rat race to capture everything.
The root cause of our fall is that we forget where to turn for help. Our help comes from God and God alone. The Lord expects us to turn to him in times of need. The Psalmist who knew this wrote; ‘I lift up my eyes to the hills – from where will my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth’ ( Ps 121:1-2).
We believe that we do stand. But we do not know that we boast of it while standing on the foundation of a faith that is as weak as a reed shaken by the wind. Though we are blessed with grace, it is given in fragile earthen pots. If we, poor mortals bound in time and space, think we will hold up the faith till the end, listen to the words of Paul who was once caught up to the third heaven (2 Cor 12:2). ‘I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified’ (1 Cor 9:27).
Paul fears for his salvation. But we have the audacity to proclaim that we stand on firm ground and will withstand every tempest. This spiritual pride will be our undoing and its sole remedy is to confess that ‘this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us’ (2 Cor 4:7). Let us march forward with the firm belief that ‘God will not let our foot be moved, and he who keeps us will not slumber (Ps 121:3). If the Lord who is ‘able to strike down those who are coming against us, and even, if necessary, the whole world’ is going before us, where is the place for fear?
‘For what other great nation has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is whenever we call to him? (Deu 4:7). In spite of this assurance from heaven if we stumble before the enemy, it is time to do a serious introspection. Does our faith meet the minimum benchmark fixed by the Lord; a faith as small as a mustard seed? Our Lord is generous and kind-hearted. What he demands of us is faith and faith alone. With David who knew the value of faith and experienced the protection of God in his life,let us also proclaim. ‘On the day I called, you answered me, you increased my strength of soul’ ( Ps 138:3).
